According to The Logical Indian, 17-year-old Bangalore-based Arya Pudota started farming six years ago with his mother on a plot of land next to his house. Over the years, he gained experience in farming from his grandparents at their Hyderabad farm and then began to farm on a large scale at the 4000-square-feet piece of land back home. Though he was appreciated by neighbours and other locals for his skills he sensed an urban disconnect with farming.

To bridge this gap he started his own YouTube channel called My Organic Farm where he posts step-by-step instructional videos on organic farming and waste management for beginners. The channel has more than 6,000 subscribers, and over 150,000 views from 170 countries! These tutorials cover everything from selecting soil to preparing a bed for mushrooms in limited spaces, like a small balcony. Arya responds to viewers’ questions by practically showcasing answers through more videos. When Arya received comments from his viewers on the difficulties they were facing to source materials for organic farming he decided to create his own kit called GrowBasic. This contains all the necessary raw materials, like a grow bag, a coco peat block, neem fertilizer and some vegetable seeds, making it a one-stop solution to begin organic farming. The kit costs just INR 149 and will be available on Amazon this July.

Arya has also conducted various welfare drives and workshops for organic farming. As reported by The Better India, he has donated over a 1000 saplings, both free of cost and at subsidised rates to people in Bengaluru and Hyderabad as a way to push people towards planting more trees. He has also worked with several schools to help them install vermicomposting units for wet waste management on their campuses. Aryas conducted talks and drives at corporate houses to spread awareness about organic farming as well.

For his contributions to the protection of the environment he has received recognition from the United Nations Environment Program and the India Award 2015 by the United States Green Building Council.

To know more about Arya’s organic farming you can visit his site My Organic Farm or send a WhatsApp message to 8884642488. You can view all his videos on his Youtube page.